Posted by Rippaverse Comics have consistently impressed me with each new release. While Yaira #1 is no different, I also can’t deny that it has some weaknesses I haven’t noticed in the other comics I’ve read from Rippaverse Comics so far.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Yaira #1 begins in medias res right after Yaira’s encounter with Isom in Isom #1 and her subsequent fight with Alphacore. After this fight, high ranking rulers from Yaira’s homeworld succeed in tracking her to earth where they intend to punish her and bring her back to their home. Meanwhile, a young delinquent undergoes an icy awakening during a heist gone wrong, revealing that she has the same powers as Yaira. The answer to this mystery is revealed towards the end of the comic, and while I do think it’s a satisfying answer that makes sense, I wish it was touched on earlier. Yaira’s initial battle with Stephanya Martinez, the girl with the same powers as her, is interrupted by Yanessa, Yantoni, and Magus Nuummite, the three individuals from Yaira’s homeworld. The battle ends in a stalemate with Stephanya escaping and Yaira wounding her three pursuers by blowing up an oil field. Stephanya is quickly apprehended by Alphacore in the hopes of using her to draw Yaira out, and Yaira searches for answers. She attacks the prison where Stephanya is being held and successfully brings her back to her house. Magus Nuummite is waiting there, and he attacks Yaira, grievously wounding her. Yaira flees to Projexus, where her alter ego works, and receives some help from Altona Daniels with getting patched up. Yaira leaves Altona with information on how to stop Nuummite’s bugs, and then she goes to confront her pursuers and Alphacore. She ends up drawing her pursuers away to Iceland where she makes a volcano erupt in a last ditch effort to defeat them. She succeeds, and when she returns to Florespark she discovers that Alphacore has taken Stephanya on as a new member.
Let’s start with what I liked. I found the villains to be the most compelling thus far, especially Magus Nuummite. His relationship with Yaira is implied to be on relatively good terms with her even going as far as telling him he can still turn back and she won’t kill him. He then kills Stephanya’s grandmother, which makes his gruesome death at Yaira’s hands all the more satisfying. I also think his character design is really cool. While his motivations, and the motivations of Yantoni and Yanessa are left more implied, I found them to be the most active villains we’ve seen in a Rippaverse comic so far, which resulted in an action-packed issue. Similarly, because these villains are so present, there’s a lot of fighting in Yaira #1. I think it’s the Rippaverse comic so far with the most action in it, and I really enjoyed it.
While poking around online and reading other people’s thoughts on the comic, I saw a few complaints about the art. Personally, I thought the art was fine. I will admit that there are a few panels here and there, no more than five or six that I can think of, that looked kind of goofy, bad, or just confusing. Overall I think Débora Caritá did a fine job with the art for the comic. There are plenty of details that I find outstanding, such as how when Yaira is in the Projexus cryogenics lab, she’s the only character whose breath isn’t visible. It’s a nice little detail given her ice powers and affinity for the cold.
Returning to the plot, I both do and don’t like Yaira’s backstory. She seems to be a Supermanlike figure in how she’s an alien residing on earth, but unlike Superman, she came to earth voluntarily, and as an adult. The result is an interesting fusion of a Superman figure and a Viltrumite from Invincible (mostly because of the implied social structure of Yaira’s homeworld that we receive from Yanessa and Yantoni). It feels fresh. Yes it borrows from well-established archetypes, but it does so on its own terms. Yaira is also a refreshing change from some of the other Rippaverse heroes because she’s not afraid to kill those that get in her way, whether it’s a villain or a civilian. Yaira cares first and foremost about herself, but it makes sense. Towards the end of the comic, right before the final climactic battle with her pursuers, Yaira reveals that she arrived in medieval Viking Iceland where she married a man named Gorm and had a family with him. However, Yaira doesn’t age like normal humans, so while Gorm and her family grew older, she stayed the same. She buried the man she loved and her children and her grandchildren. Eventually she couldn’t handle the loss anymore, so she left and did her best to bury the love within herself. That is until Stephanya Martinez displayed the same powers as her. I understand why the revelation that Stephanya is a descendant of Yaira was kept until the end, but it makes the earlier events with Stephanya’s grandmother feel awkward. After their initial encounter, Yaira finds Stephanya’s grandmother at a nursing home and takes her back to the home she owns as Dr. Sally Rodell. Why? Yaira wants answers, so how does she know who Stephanya’s grandmother is but not Stephanya? The interaction with the grandmother doesn’t elucidate a whole lot, at least for the reader, other than revealing that the grandmother knows who Yaira is and even recognizes her. Furthermore, by bringing the grandmother back to her home, Yaira inadvertently gets her killed by Magus Nuummite. The more I think about this whole interaction, the less it makes sense to me and all it does is serve to muddle the story and create confusion and artificial conflict because Stephanya grows to hate Yaira because Yaira gets her grandmother killed but the grandmother would never have been killed if she wasn’t at Yaira’s house and it just doesn’t make logical sense for her to be at Yaira’s house. In summary, I like Yaira’s backstory. It’s interesting, touching, and very easy to become sympathetic to her plight. However, I think some revelations are revealed a little too late because it makes earlier plot points, namely the one with the grandmother, even more confusing and nonsensical.
Speaking of nonsensical and Superman, Yaira’s alter ego as Dr. Sally Rodell is… something. The only difference between Sally and Yaira is, I kid you not, a pair of glasses. Yaira doesn’t get her armor until the end of the comic, so she’s fighting in sweatpants for the majority of the book. A few characters put it together that Yaira and Sally are the same person, but the fact that Dr. Rodell is a supposedly world renowned archaeologist and Yaira is the most wanted woman in Florespark, Texas, and no one realizes they’re the same person is kind of ridiculous.
All of that being said, I did enjoy Yaira #1. She was a refreshing change of character from the more traditional heroes of the Rippaverse. Her motivation is also interesting with small implications here and there that she came to earth searching for Neptune, another of her kind who left their world of his own volition. I can definitely see plot threads that can be explored in the future, and I’m excited to see where it goes.
SPOILERS END
I enjoyed Yaira #1. While I think it definitely faltered in some areas, both in terms of plot and art direction, those faults aren’t enough to ruin the comic for me. Yaira is ultimately an interesting and compelling character, and I’m excited to see where her story goes next. If you’re a fan of comics, and especially what Eric July and his team are doing at Rippaverse Comics, I’d wholeheartedly recommend checking out Yaira #1.
Broad Scope Entertainment 